Developing the foundations for interoperable payments
Financial services and digital payments · Central Africa
Assessed payments interoperability and merchant acceptance, examining the institutions, infrastructure, and commercial conditions needed to expand digital payments. The work informed a $485 million operation and helped bring seven banks together in a national interbank payments group.
The situation
Payments in a large Central African market were fragmented across banks, microfinance institutions, mobile money operators, and agency networks that could not transact with one another, and merchants had little reason to accept digital payment. A financing institution and the central bank needed a clear view of what interoperability and merchant acceptance would take before committing capital.
Our role
Our senior team led the assessment and produced the strategy and implementation roadmap.
The work
We mapped the payments landscape and its access points, assessed interoperability and merchant acceptance, reviewed the agency networks, and examined the institutional, infrastructure, and commercial conditions needed to expand digital payments. The roadmap set out the sequence of institutional agreements, infrastructure, and incentives required.
What changed
The work informed a $485 million operation and helped bring seven banks together into a national interbank payments group.
Related service
This assignment sits within research and intelligence, with a direct link to investment preparation: evidence that shaped a financing decision and the institutional arrangements behind it.
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